Dragon 5 Chapter 27

Sabrina seemed to notice my attention, and hunger as I gazed at the dragons in front of me. They had turned, eyeing me as well. I smiled, my stomach churning with hunger.

Sabrina acted quickly, taking off her glasses and blowing a pink mist into my face.

Instantly, all thoughts of eating were cut off and instead, I wanted to take my two mates in the back of the warehouse to enjoy them.

“Zach, focus. Kill the demon.” Sabrina’s eyes bore into my own, and I regained what little sense I had.

I might be a giant dragon packed with power, but it seemed my emotions still ruled me, a flaw that demons could use.

My three honor guards were staggering. Polydora kept shaking her head.

Amira threw herself at me. I grabbed onto her and slammed her into pipes that sprayed steam into the air, blocking my vision of the rest.

Beelzebub’s voice was wrong somehow, like a male voice layered over the female voice of the body as he laughed. “Too easy. Now it’s time to feast, my little vampires. I never thought we’d see his kind.”

Faintly in the back of my mind, I registered he knew what I was, but that was soon overwhelmed by the desire not to let Amira take a bite out of me as she lunged again.

“Off.” I roared, punching her in the snout. I knew the move worked on sharks, so I gave it a try with dragons.

Amira dipped her forehead at the last moment, taking the fist on her much harder brow before rolling with me and slamming me into the metal bracing on a tank.

I groaned, and the noise was echoed by the tank itself as the bracing buckled.

Rolling out of the way, the tank came down on Amira with an enormous thud. Red frothy liquid exploded into a wave over all of us.

Vampires landed on top of me, and I crushed one against my shoulder before throwing the other off of me.

Polydora and Trina were sluggishly resisting several vampires as well as they simultaneously fought off Beelzebub’s effects.

I glanced over to check on my mates.

Morgana and Ricardo were fighting. The former vampire leader of Philly had a rapier that I could barely see beyond the sparks that appeared he fought Morgana.

The two were actually well matched.

Sabrina had several red diagrams surrounding her as she fought off her own vampire.

But I couldn’t see Beelzebub anywhere in the glances I could take between vampires trying to get at my throat.

The collapsed tank shifted, and Amira wobbled to her feet, a hint of clarity in them for a moment. “My king!” Her eyes flicked over my shoulder.

I had just enough time to jump out of the way before the emaciated vampire that Beelzebub inhabited splashed into the space where I’d been in.

“Contego.” I threw up a shield between us to buy myself a moment.

But the demon-possessed vampire was fast. It blurred around my shield as his jaw unhinged and grew impossibly wide.

I tried to smack him aside, only for him to bite and latch onto my arm.

To my surprise, his fangs actually sank through my scales and pierced my skin. He’d barely broken skin as he sucked like I was an almost empty juice box.

I froze. It was like someone stuffed a vacuum to my arm as his entire mouth suctioned to me.

I Reacted instinctively, my fist crashed into his face, breaking bones and sending him flying.

“My king.” Amira rushed Beelzebub in my name, jumping on the demon prince before he could recover. Then she began tearing into him with her black claws.

I had to shake my head clear as potent vampire venom flooded my system, and my arm felt numb as it recovered.

“Amira, help the others.” I shouted.

Then I moved and hoisted up the wet, demon-possessed vampire. “Where’s the bloodlord?”

The demon gave me a choking laughter, even as his vampire body healed. “Now, why would I tell you that? I’m just here to consume and revel until my body is crushed.” He kept on laughing.

It was all a joke to him, and that pissed me off even more.

I slammed him against a concrete wall, breaking more of his bones before he could heal. “Who says you have to go?” Another fist to his chest was a stark reminder of how much pain I could inflict on the demon prince before he had a chance to get away.

“You can’t stop me. But I will be back. What fun would it be to live a week in the dragon king’s body?” The demon prince only smiled, and the eerie red glow faded from the vampire’s eyes.

The vampire had a hint of their own clarity for a moment until their face became gaunt. Their skin shrunk down onto their bones, and everything in them seemed to waste away until the vampire’s body was a husk, like the other victims.

I tossed it to the side, and the brittle husk collapsed on itself.

The three dragons had finished taking out the stronger vampires, and Sabrina had protected herself throughout the fighting.

Morgana had done the hardest job. Ricardo was disarmed and pinned to the floor, his dark hair wet and sticking to his face.

“Where is it?” My partner demanded, pushing his face into the floor.

“I can’t.” Ricardo whined. “He made me. He’s the one who made me.” The Spanish man looked like he was on the verge of tears. But I just couldn’t bring myself to give a shit.

“Either you provide information, or I eat you. Those are the only options. Either way, you’ll be useful. So choose.” I stepped up to the downed vampire, still keeping my senses alert for any other threats.

The battle had seemed almost too easy.

“Poly, Trina, Amira, you all okay?” I asked the dragonettes while Ricardo considered his answer.

They all nodded.

“Good. Fan out and make sure we don’t have any stragglers to surprise us.” I put my foot on Ricardo’s back to relieve Morgana. “Now, where were we?”

“I can’t.” Ricardo pressed his cheek to the wet floor.

Morgana stood and pushed some wet strands of hair out of her face. “If this bloodlord is the one who turned him, then there’s little he can do if they recently put a compulsion on him.” She sighed. “Ricardo, answer me this, how much of all of this was by force versus free will?”

Ricardo didn’t even try to look at her, instead looking at the ground. “A lot of it was me. You don’t understand. You stay well clear of vampire politics, and you can because of your connections. The rest of us are forced to be a part of it, mired up to our eyeballs in the conflicts of the three houses and our masters.”

Morgana snorted. “I’ll throw you a pity party at your funeral.” Morgana didn’t have any sympathy. “You killed hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people with your plans today.”

Ricardo just laughed. “You haven’t fed on humans for years. They aren’t people. They are nothing but cattle led around by the nose of whatever talking heads are on TV. Even those we bleed for months here were given a TV and electronics without an internet connection. And they were happy as could be. You should see it when you give humans food, shelter and entertainment. They just stand around, happy, just like cattle.”

“I’m sure vampire venom had no part in that.” I rolled my eyes, increasing the pressure on his back. “Tell me something useful or I’m going to make you useful.” I reminded him of my threat to eat him.

The ruined vampire only smiled, showing off his fangs. “You have much to learn, young dragon. Don’t think this is nearly over.” Moving quickly, he tried to grab my other leg.

In response, I crushed his back, paralyzing the vampire while Morgana’s blade flicked and a tear in space severed Ricardo’s head.

“This was too easy.” I stated my thoughts out loud to Morgana and Sabrina as they approached.

Though I looked down with a frown, he would have probably have been rich with mana, but it bled out of him and I wasn’t about to lick the floor.

“Agreed. But they likely wouldn’t want to split their forces. They have another battle planned.” Morgana turned and gazed at the concrete walls like she could see through them. “We need to get to the park and help the fae.”

Sabrina finished one of her enchantments and frowned at the diagram. “There are still a lot of humans here.”

I nodded, knowing it was going to be messy. “Work with Morgana and the dragons. Clear the place and lock it up tight with them inside. We’ll have to come back for them after. We just don’t have time or manpower to rescue dozens of people.”

As I said it, my eyes flicked to Helena hanging from the chains. I was glad that she hadn’t been possessed yet, and we could use her in the fight against the fae, even if she was weakened.

Morgana nodded and hurried off with Sabrina, who was holding up her enchantment to help direct them to the humans.

“Now, let’s see if I can’t help you, Helena.” I went over and broke the chains, pulling her down into my arms.

Her eyes fluttered open as they flashed with magic. “Mmm.” She moaned and her eyes were hazy as she gazed up at me. “My hero.” She mumbled, and a feeling like a heavy warm blanket settled over me.

I felt like I suddenly had fallen in love with Helena and she with me. It was such improbable, yet inevitable, instant love.

I was so relieved to have her in my arms, to have her safe from everything. The comforting warmth and squeezed in around us made me want to hold her forever.

Somehow, even after all the tension between us, it just exploded and became love here and now as I saved her.

There was a familiar smile on her lips.

“Too bad you are alone.” The same distortion that had been in the vampire's voice who had been possessed by Beelzebub was present in Helena, and I felt myself bristle before more of that warm blanket settled around me and calmed me down.

The woman I was looking at meant something to me. I loved her, and I would fight for her.

The beast raged in my chest for me to mark her and mate her.

And I didn’t want to suppress that urge, but there was something buzzing in the back of my head like a nagging fly.

“My hero. Thank you for saving me. I’m just a damsel in distress, and I think I love you after saving me.” Despite the distortion, her words were like sickly sweet honey to my ears. I couldn’t help but savor them, desperately clinging to them.

I put her down gently, dismissing the buzzing in the back of my mind as she hung her arms around the back of my head.

“Oh, the dragon king is a romantic.” Beelzebub said with Helena’s mouth. “Come, love me, feed me.” She chuckled in what felt like the cutest giggle I’d ever heard.

I loved it when she laughed.

I loved everything about her.

The buzzing grew even louder, and I tried to swat the feeling away even as the beast in my chest became a love struck puppy and begged to be with the woman before me.

But as I stared down at her, I processed what was wrong. She was mine, but at the moment, I was sharing her. And I did not share.

MINE! The thought raged in my mind like a burning inferno even as my jaw crackled, ready to mark the nephilim.

The rage going through me gave me purpose. Whatever was trying to take her from me would pay. It would pay so dearly for touching my angel.

Anger and love pushed through me as I latched onto her shoulder, magic burning through my jaw and searing into her flesh.

“Ah!” her distorted voice screamed as she bucked in my arms and grabbed my head. “Stop that.” Beelzebub raged and our eyes locked.

His magic welled up in Helena’s body, and I could see purple light reflecting off her eyes as wild fae magic burned in my own.

The two magics clashed, forming between our eyes as the windows to our souls. Then it felt like I was falling into her eyes, tumbling and twirling through the soulful pools and into something else.

When I finally landed, I was surrounded by a dark blue world with silver wisps of people running back and forth.

“Helena!” A woman scolded the young girl with wings who was clambering and climbing up onto a table. It looked like the little girl had knocked over a ceramic bowl and shatter it on the floor, spilling berries everywhere.

I waved my hand in front of the woman, but she didn’t react.

“I swear. You are nothing but trouble.” The woman put her hands on her hips.

“Sorry, mom.” The young Helena looked down at the ground like a properly chastised child. And then she took a step back, fear covering her face.

The woman’s back suddenly had wings, and she grabbed Helena by the hair, forcing her to look up at her. “I love you so much, dear.”

Young Helena burst into tears. “I love you too, mom.” But I could tell that her mother was using her magic on her daughter.

“That’s why this is going to pain me so much. I really do love you, my little Hel, but look what you’ve made me do? All because you won’t listen.” Her mother continued to hold her by the hair, pushing her love onto her before she started to slap her.

I winced.

It was brutal, absolutely brutal, to force her child to love her and then weaponized it against her like that.

The way Helena acted made so much more sense. And the way her mother called Helena, her ‘little Hel’ didn’t sit right with me. It didn’t sound like a term of endearment.

Anger at how she was raised rushed through me.

I hadn’t had much time to process being a father, but I knew that once Yev finished her pregnancy and the egg hatched, I would be a better parent than the example in front of me.

I moved on through the bleak landscape of Helena’s soul.

Helena’s memories sprang up, tinted with foul emotions. Her mother continued using her power on Helena like a thousand pound chain, dragging her down and tying the young Helena to her.

She constantly made Helena love her, only to use her.

I watched as Helena was pushed into combat training she didn’t want. And then when she was pulled away from one of the Nashner’s maids that had stepped in to fill the parental void.

And then… oh god. She was forced to remove the maid herself just to prove to her mother that she loved her.

Helena’s mother twisted her around the bond between them, cementing it with the full might of the archangel of love’s power.

It was no wonder Helena didn’t change sides until she thought her mother couldn’t reach her anymore.

Helena was clearly simultaneously terrified of the woman and eager for the barest scrap of attention and love.

I watched as she grew up, loathing the very idea of love.

At some point, Helena seemed to understand that the way she’d been treated wasn’t right, but it was still hard for her to do much to change it. She’d been so conditioned by her mother that it was painful to watch.

A few paltry attempts at rebellion were squashed brutally by her mother until she became a grudging, but effective, soldier for the celestial plane and the church.

As I reached adulthood, I skimmed past the parts I knew, like our time in Switzerland. But what really caught my attention happened after she fled from where the Archangel of justice died.

For a long time, she just flew.

Flying from mountain to mountain, she sat atop the peaks and gazed at the world below.

I imagined she was savoring her freedom, but Helena didn’t talk or meet people. Instead, she remained on her own and eventually crossed the Atlantic Ocean on her own wings, arriving in America, where she started anew in New York City.

She reinvented herself, starting her work as she became an agent for the FBI and started protecting paranormals.

She’d worked her way through the organization quickly. She’d learned how to manipulate people and circumstances to her benefit. Helena had learned from the best.

But she did seem to be using it for the good of paranormals. Helena was actually trying to solve problems, at least in her own way.

As I moved into the present moment, I noticed that the surrounding space was quite large. And it was marred by red veins as a fat demon laughed. He sat in a chair with Helena restrained and leaning up against it.

“You’ve come. But you are a fool. This is not where dragons should be fighting.” Beelzebub was tall, well over eight feet, with jowls that flopped against his neck as his belly bounced.

He was the perfect picture of excess.

“I’d say something heroic like ‘let her go’, but we both know that won’t happen.” I flexed my hands. I’d remained in my dragon knight form, and I hoped it would shield me as well as it did in the real world.

Helena tried to yell something at me from her position, but it didn’t get through the cloth around her mouth.

“Yes, well. We can see just how strong the soul of the dragon king is. After all, I see hints of Bahamut and Tiamat in you.” Beelzebub’s eyes flashed greedily. “Tell me, is that true?”

“Why don’t you come on and find out?” I widened my stance and prepared for battle.